Trump condemns KKK, neo-Nazis: White House

AAP

Monday, 14 August 2017 9:01AM

A woman has died after a car hit a crowd protesting against a white nationalist rally in Virginia.

US President Donald Trump's remarks condemning violence at a white nationalist rally were meant to include the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups, the White House insists, a day after he was criticised across the political spectrum for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists.

US authorities opened an investigation of Saturday's deadly violence in Virginia, which put renewed pressure on the Trump administration to take an unequivocal stand against right-wing extremists who occupy a segment of the Republican president's political base.

A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 were people injured on Saturday when a man ploughed a car into people protesting against the white nationalist rally in the southern town of Charlottesville.

Another 15 people were injured in bloody street brawls between white nationalists and counter-demonstrators.

Two Virginia state police officers died in the crash of their helicopter after assisting in efforts to quell the unrest.

James Alex Fields Jr, 20, a white Ohio man described by a former high school teacher as having been "infatuated" with Nazi ideology as a teenager, was due to be appear in court on murder and other charges stemming from the deadly car crash.

Democrats and Republicans criticised Trump for waiting too long to address the violence and for failing when he did speak out to explicitly condemn the white-supremacist marchers who ignited the melee.

On Sunday, however, the White House said: "The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred, and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi, and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together."

The statement was emailed to reporters covering Trump at his golf resort in New Jersey and attributed to an unidentified "White House spokesperson".

On Saturday, Trump declined to single out any political ideology by name as being involved in Charlottesville.

"We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides," he said.

Memorial vigils and other events showing solidarity with Charlottesville's victims were planned across the country on Sunday to "honour all those under attack by congregating against hate", according to a loose coalition of civil society groups said in postings on social media.

Virginia police have not yet provided a motive for the man accused of ramming his car into the crowd but US prosecutors and the FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

Fields is being held on suspicion of second-degree murder, malicious wounding and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Jason Kessler, an organiser of Saturday's "Unite the Right" rally, which was staged to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate commander General Robert E Lee from a park, said supporters of the event would not back down.

The rally stemmed from a long debate over public memorials and symbols honouring the pro-slavery Confederacy of the US Civil War.